The Democratic Presidential Primary has moved into surreal territory. Last Tuesday, Hillary Clinton won a landslide victory in West Virginia beating Barack Obama by over 40 points. Yet the state of the race hasn’t really changed. Obama still has an insurmountable delegate lead. She may win Kentucky but he is poised to win Oregon and slowly but surely march toward the nomination. Hillary can enjoy her victory and promise to press on, but surely she must know that the game is over.
Hillary may not be ready to admit the reality, but I am. When we began StopHerNow.com’s campaign to educate America, Hillary was the inevitable candidate, the prohibitive favorite and assumed nominee, who could raise millions of dollars and who had both the name recognition and the establishment backing. Her plan was to steamroll to early victories and put the upstart Obama in his place.
StopHerNow.com was designed to derail this coronation. Using humor and satire we hoped to remind people why they disliked the Clintons and educate Americans as to why Hillary would be disastrous for America. We would highlight her liberal positions and her long history of distortion and subterfuge – her willingness to do whatever and say whatever it takes to win.
Well, a funny thing happened along the way: some of Hillary’s biggest enemies turned out not to come from the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy but from liberal Democrats and their fellow travelers in the media.
At the start of the race SHN was seen as a slimy “Swift Boat” type attack machine prepared to destroy Hillary with scurrilous and unfounded accusations. But once Obama became the front runner and thus the recipient of the Clinton style campaign tactics, it was the left that was complaining the loudest about Hillary and bemoaning her lack of ethics, her scorched earth style, and her willingness to destroy the party to win.
While liberals had the scales fall from their eyes, conservatives discovered a new found respect for the former first lady despite her now openly leftist policies. Suddenly, Stop Her Now was a slogan liberal pundits, Obama supporters, and – to be redundant – the media could get behind while Rush Limbaugh and others saw Hillary as a useful tool to sow discord and chaos among the Democrats.
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This is not to say that the site failed. I think it played a part in Hillary’s undoing; just to a different audience. It was never our intention to get caught up in who was the most vulnerable candidate in the general election or to attempt Machiavellian games to prolong the Democratic primary fight (however advantageous that might be).
No, our goal was always simply to bring the Clinton era in America to an end through an education campaign. To prevent the return of Hill and Bill to the White House and all the scandal and destruction that would bring. That mission seems to have been accomplished and we are glad to have played a part.
The candidate who is poised to defeat Hillary, however, is if anything more liberal and just as bad for America. Hillary may have exaggerated her experience, but Obama is just flat out inexperienced. Hillary may have tried to use the perceived centrism of her husband as shield, but Obama preaches a full throated liberalism without apology. Hillary may have had some radical connections in college, but Obama used his to gain political power in the corrupt politics of Chicago. Hillary may have played the hawk when it was useful, but Obama promises to meet with dictators and terrorists.
Obama will be the most liberal presidential candidate in a generation. And having stopped Hillary Clinton from grasping power it is equally important to stop Obama. To that end I am in the process of changing StopHerNow.com to Stop-Him-Now.com. Just because Hillary has been stopped doesn’t mean the threat has gone away. Obama’s style may be different but his radical agenda is just as dangerous.
Hillary is not likely to go quietly. She seems intent on litigating the seating of the Florida and Michigan delegations to her advantage. She will look to rack up big wins in Kentucky and Puerto Rico in a vain attempt to convince the superdelegates that she is the stronger candidate. She may take this fight all the way to the convention in August. Others have done it with far greater a deficit.
But, to borrow a phrase, I am ready to move on and focus on the presumptive nominee. It seems highly unlikely that Hillary would take advice from me, but in the odd chance she is listening: “Sorry, Hill, it’s over.”
Oh, and Barack? You’re next.
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